By Christopher Gill (NHC Fellow, 1981–82) This is a major study of conceptions of selfhood and personality in Homer, Greek tragedy, and philosophy. The focus is on norms of personality in Greek psychology and ethics. The key thesis is that, to understand Greek thinking of this type, we need to counteract the subjective and individualistic … Continued
By Charles Segal (NHC Fellow, 1993–94) Much has been written about the heroic figures of Sophocles’ powerful dramas. Now Charles Segal focuses our attention not on individual heroes and heroines, but on the world that inspired and motivated their actions—a universe of family, city, nature, and the supernatural. He shows how these ancient masterpieces offer insight into … Continued
Edited and translated by Patricia Curd (NHC Fellow, 2001–02; 2009–10) Building on the virtues that made the first edition of A Presocratics Reader the most widely used sourcebook for the study of the Presocratics and Sophists, the second edition offers even more value and a wider selection of fragments from these philosophical predecessors and contemporaries of Socrates. … Continued
By Deborah Lyons (NHC Fellow, 1997–98) Inspired by anthropological writing on reciprocity and kinship, this book applies the idea of gendered wealth to ancient Greek myth for the first time, and also highlights the importance of the sister-brother bond in the Classical world.
By Lynn E. Roller (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) This book examines one of the most intriguing figures in the religious life of the ancient Mediterranean world, the Phrygian Mother Goddess, known to the Greeks and Romans as Cybele or Magna Mater, the Great Mother. Her cult was particularly prominent in central Anatolia (modern Turkey), and spread … Continued
By Gerald F. Else (NHC Fellow, 1978–79) This book is a guide to the poetics of the two Greek fountainheads of Western literary theory. Part I traces the development of Plato's great themes of inspiration and imitation but makes no attempt to reduce his disparate statements to a system. Part II demonstrates that Aristotle's Poetics embodies a … Continued
Edited and translated by Richard Janko (NHC Fellow, 1990–91) This, the fourth volume in the six-volume Commentary on the Iliad being prepared under the General Editorship of Professor G. S. Kirk, covers Books 13-16, including the Battle for the Ships, the Deception of Zeus and the Death of Patroklos. Three introductory essays discuss the role … Continued
By Anaxagoras of ClazomenaeEdited and translated by Patricia Curd (NHC Fellow, 2001–02; 2009–10) Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (circa. 500 B.C.-428 B.C.) was reportedly the first Presocratic philosopher to settle in Athens. He was a friend of Pericles and his ideas are reflected in the works of Sophocles and Aristophanes. Anaxagoras asserted that Mind is the ordering … Continued
By Bruce Redford (Trustee; NHC Fellow, 2004–05) Bruce Redford re-creates the vibrant culture of connoisseurship in Enlightenment England by investigating the multifaceted activities and achievements of the Society of Dilettani. Elegantly and wittily he dissects the British connoisseurs whose expeditions, collections, and publications laid the groundwork for the Neoclassical revival and for the scholarly study … Continued
By John F. Matthews (NHC Fellow, 1995–96) The Theodosian Code—a collection of Roman imperial legislation of the period from Constantine the Great to Theodosius II—is a fundamental source for understanding the legal, social, economic, cultural, and religious history of the later Roman Empire. More than 2,700 of the 3,500 original texts of the Code survive, … Continued